Home is Where the Heart is
by halebsarmy
Summary: When Hanna is introduced to Caleb through her friends, she immediately starts to feel something. The only problem is, he's stationed thousands of miles away with the army. Haleb story with mentions of Spoby, Ezria, and Emison. AU, rated T/M.
1. Accidental Introduction

**Hi! So this is a new story that Emily (dreamer241) and I (Jen, hannnarivers) will be working on together, alternating writers between chapters. It's definitely Haleb central, and based around the idea that Caleb, Ezra, and Toby are in the army. The five girls are all still friends, aged about twenty-three, and living in Rosewood. We'll find out how Haleb first 'meet' and all that comes along with that, and who knows… maybe it develops into something more? Anyway, here's the first chapter, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Accidental Introduction

* * *

"Please? Come on, just one more and then we'll go somewhere else, I promise."

Hanna sighed as she stood up and gave into her friend's request, straightening her black mini dress before begrudgingly heading over to the bar to buy another round of shots for the group. Aria clapped her hands excitedly as she grinned with a smug look on her face, earning an eye roll from Spencer.

"Always getting your own way," She murmured, taking a sip from her gin and tonic.

Aria slapped her arm lightly, "Hey, you'll thank me later when you're drunk."

Moments later Hanna arrived back at the table, armed with five shots of some neon orange liquid on a tray.

Slowly looking down at the drinks and then back up, Emily raised an inquisitive eyebrow and pointed a finger towards the glasses, "Um, what are these?"

Hanna stuck her bottom lip out and shrugged, "No idea," She began as she nudged Alison's side, encouraging her to shuffle over so that she could sit next to her at the round table, "They were cheap though."

Clearly that was good enough for Aria, who had already distributed the shots between the girls and was tapping her fingers on the marble table top impatiently. She picked up her shot glass and held it to her lips, widening her eyes accusatorily when the others failed to do the same.

Alison smirked, taking Emily's hand in one of hers and her drink in the other, "Here goes nothing."

All five girls braced themselves, Spencer looking noticeably apprehensive, before they simultaneously tipped the glasses back and poured the burning liquid down their throats. Sour looks graced the faces of everyone but Hanna, who was nodding approvingly at her empty glass with a contented expression, "Not bad."

She looked up and was met with nothing but disapproving grimaces as her friends silently disagreed with her.

"Hmm," Spencer mused, "Clearly your taste in drinks is as bad as your taste in men."

Hanna's expression immediately turned stoic as her friends giggled at Spencer's comment. "Hey, there was no need for that," Her face lightened a little, "However true it may be."

Reaching across the table, Emily took Hanna's hand in hers and patted her arm lightly with the other, putting on a fake pout of sympathy which earned a shriek of laughter from a very tipsy Aria. Hanna rolled her eyes but a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips as Emily sunk back into the sofa-chair, turning her attention to Spencer, "Speaking of men, how's Toby?"

Spencer immediately perked up at the sound of his name, reaching into her bag to pull out her phone. "He's doing great," She rambled excitedly, scrolling through her phone at the same time, "He's been sending me so many pictures lately."

"Pictures huh?" Alison teased, wiggling her eyebrows, "What kinda pictures?"

Spencer's head shot up and she narrowed her eyes disapprovingly, "These kind of pictures." She turned her phone around to reveal a photo of Toby in his army uniform, reaching down to pet a small white dog at his feet.

Emily audibly squeaked, taking the phone into her own hands so that she could see the screen better, "That is so adorable! You have the cutest husband."

Aria shuffled into Emily to get a closer look, "It is adorable," She agreed, nodding, "But not as cute as the one of Toby and Ezra together, show them that one."

Spencer snatched her phone away from Emily and spent no more than three seconds looking for the photo that Aria had described, "Easy to find, I added that one to my favourites album."

This time she placed her phone in the middle of the table as the other four girls leaned in to take a look, a chorus of 'ah's echoing around their booth as Aria and Spencer grinned proudly.

Hanna reached her hand out, pointing a finger at the third guy in the picture, who was standing alongside the fiancé and husband of her two friends. "Who's that?" She asked, genuinely interested, "He's cute."

"He was transferred to their training base in Florida a couple of weeks ago, I think his name is Caleb," Aria chirped, "He's going out to Iraq with them, and apparently he's a nice guy."

Spencer raised her eyebrows, "Huh, maybe your taste in men is improving."

* * *

The girls had a habit of letting their plans go awry and this night was no exception – three hours later and they still hadn't left the dingy club that they'd started their evening in. Though the setting hadn't changed, the atmosphere definitely had, as the floor of the club was now filled with sweaty, moving bodies and everyone was noticeably tipsier than before. While Emily and Alison were pressed together amidst the crowd of dancing twenty-somethings, Aria sat slumped back at the table with her head on Spencer's shoulder, only half aware of her surroundings as the taller girl rubbed her arm soothingly. She definitely still hadn't learned how to handle her alcohol.

With all her friends busy, Hanna had occupied herself by buying herself another drink, but now found herself bored as she stood in the corner watching drunk people stumble over one another. Sighing, she decided to walk back over to the table to join Spencer and Aria, and only then realised how tipsy she actually was. Those heels were _definitely_ easier to walk in when she arrived.

Spencer's head shot round as she noticed Hanna walking towards her, a big grin spreading across her face, "Hey look who it is!"

Hanna could tell how drunk she was without even starting a conversation; drunk Spencer was a very happy Spencer, and right now she looked elated just to be in Hanna's presence. Sitting down and nuzzling into her friend's shoulder, Hanna smiled back as Spencer wrapped her free arm around her shoulders, "What's up with her?"

Spencer followed the direction of Hanna's nod until her eyes landed on Aria, "She's very veeeeeery drunk," Spencer explained, scrunching her face up, "It's a bit of a situation."

Aria's reaction was slow, but there nonetheless, "Hey!" She brought her hand to her head as she tried to stand and lost her balance slightly, only to have Spencer pull her back down, "I'm positively, totally, one-hundred percent perfect."

Hanna raised her eyebrows, "Somehow I doubt that."

"Look, I can even text, let me prove my non-drunkenness to you," Aria insisted as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, earning giggles from her friends.

Spencer grabbed the phone from Aria's hands as soon as she began her attempts to unlock it, "Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Well," Hanna reached her arm out to snatch the phone away, "I don't think you should be trusted with it either missy."

The phone was still locked, and she could see that Aria's background was the photo of Ezra, Toby, and Caleb that Spencer had shown them earlier, but cropped so that only half of Toby and Caleb's faces were visible. "Why do you hate the other boys?" Hanna asked, genuine concern in her voice, "What did that, um, what's his name?"

"Caleb," Spencer chimed in.

"Yeah, Caleb," Hanna affirmed, "What did that Caleb boy ever do to make you cut him out?"

Aria giggled like a five-year-old as she tipped her head back and let out a loud sigh, "He's not my Ezra is he? So he doesn't need to be in it."

"Well that's rude," Hanna joked, shoving Aria's phone into her bag to keep it safe.

When she looked back, Spencer was staring at her with a smug smirk on her face.

"What?"

"You seem very protective of this Caleb boy," Spencer teased, "Maybe we should ask the guys to hook you up."

Hanna scoffed before taking a sip of her drink, "I'm good thanks, I think I have enough on my plate with you two. I don't need an extra drunk person to take care of when I..." Her words trailed off as she felt a tug at her side, and looked down to see Aria stealing her phone out of her bag.

"Aria!" Hanna grinned as she shook her head, "What are you doing? That's my phone, not yours."

Aria didn't reply as she typed furiously, a look of pure concentration on her face as her fingers slipped from the screen every so often.

"Aria?!"

Eventually she looked up with a sly smile on her face, "I'm just getting you started, don't worry Hanna banana."

Hanna's eyes widened as she shook Spencer's arm from around her shoulder and ran around the table to Aria's side, snatching her phone away as her friend giggled uncontrollably.

"What did you do?!"

"Nothing," Aria tried to reassure Hanna, reaching up to pat her head, "You didn't even give me a chance."

Shaking her head and shoving her phone into her pocket, Hanna walked back around to her seat and slumped down, gulping down the rest of her martini in one. "Are Em and Ali as drunk as you two are?"

* * *

"Crap!"

Hanna moved her hand straight up to her head as she threw her phone across the room with the other, desperately trying to stop the beeping sound that had just caused her to jump half a mile into the air. She was dis-orientated and it took her a minute before she realised that she was in Spencer's barn – they must have gone back their after they finished their night out, though she was having trouble remembering exactly _how_ that night out came to an end. Emily and Alison were nowhere to be seen, and neither was Spencer, but Hanna assumed that she was still asleep in her bedroom. Aria, however, was asleep on the couch opposite Hanna, and still totally comatose despite the obnoxious sound that had filled the room only moments earlier.

Realising how dry her throat was, Hanna stood up carefully and made her way over to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and gulping it down in a matter of seconds. She caught sight of her reflection in one of the pans resting on a wooden shelf, grimacing at her matted hair and the smears of day-old make up across her face. "Good look, Han," She commented sarcastically to no one but herself.

Her phone was thrown half way across her room after their little 'disagreement' a few minutes earlier, and Hanna silently prayed that she hadn't smashed the screen as she walked over to pick it up. Sighing with relief when she realised that it wasn't broken, she pressed the home button to see that she had a new Facebook message. She furrowed her brow and began to pace as she desperately tried to figure out where she recognised the name from. How did she…

Hanna stopped in her tracks as the realisation hit her. Caleb Rivers. Caleb. That was the name of the guy in that photo with Ezra and Toby. Oh God. Why was he messaging her? Had she told the girls that she wanted them to hook her up with him? Oh God. Oh God. She threw her phone onto the couch and buried her head in her hands as she sat down next to it, too scared to unlock her phone and read the message. Spencer must know something about it, she thought.

Charging over to Spencer's room, Hanna banged her fists on the door and swung it open before she had even given her friend the chance to reply. She was met with a very dishevelled looking Spencer, who was half sitting, half laying in bed, and very confused.

"Why is he messaging me?" Hanna dead-panned.

"What?" Spencer asked cautiously, sitting up fully against the headboard of her bed as she tried to process the words that were being thrown at her.

"Caleb. Caleb Rivers. That guy in the photo. Why the hell is he messaging me on Facebook?!"

Spencer looked as genuinely shocked as Hanna was, which didn't fill her with hope, "He is?!"

"Yes," Hanna confirmed, moving to sit on the bed as she shoved the phone into Spencer's lap, "And I don't know how the hell he even knows who I am."

"I don't think he does know who you are."

"Exactly!" She was pacing back and forth again, "I need you to open it Spence, I can't do it, I'm too embarrassed. My passcode is six…"

"I know your passcode," Spencer interjected, "I've already opened the message."

Hanna's head shot round, "And?"

Spencer looked up, her eyes wide and her lips pressed together as she clearly tried to suppress a smile, "You might wanna take a look at this."

Grabbing the phone from her friend and desperately scanning her eyes across the message, Hanna felt her cheeks heat up as they turned a deep shade of pink, "Well I didn't send this!"

"I think that's pretty clear from the way it's signed, Han," Spencer teased, not even trying to hide her amusement at this point.

 _Hi Caleb! My name is Hanna ans I would really looooove to meet yoi. My frineds are with Ezra and Tobu. I think you are reallt hot and you should come slewp in my bed because I haven't haf sex in a really long time. Love Han (Arua)._

Hanna had a face like thunder as she read over the message one more time, "Well 'Arua' is in for a world of pain."

Leaving Spencer to giggle to herself in bed, Hanna marched back into the living room and shook Aria's leg, hard. "Aria, get up."

Sitting up with a drawn-out groan, Aria rubbed her eyes with her hands and looked around the room, seemingly as confused as Hanna had been when she woke up. "Where are we?"

"In Spencer's barn. Why did you message Caleb?"

Aria could tell that Hanna was angry from the way she was tapping her foot as she waited for her to reply, eyebrows raised and her head tilted to the side.

"I didn't," Aria protested with a yawn, "I don't even know the guy."

"Yes," Hanna shot her arm out to shove the phone in front of Aria's face, "You did."

It took a second for her eyes to focus so that she could read the message, but once she had, Aria looked back up with her bottom lip between her teeth. A beat passed before she dared to speak, "Oops?"

Hanna's eyes practically bulged out of her head, "Oops? Oops?! I don't even know this guy, and you just messaged him out of nowhere practically telling him that I wanted to have sex with him because I haven't gotten laid in God knows how long? Jesus Aria!"

"Hey, but that's pretty impressive, I managed to find him on Facebook _and_ message him while I was drunk," Aria smirked to herself.

"I wouldn't be too proud of that message," Came Spencer's voice as she leaned against the doorframe to her bedroom, "The spelling was absolutely appalling."

"You guys!" Hanna practically stomped her feet, "Why aren't you taking this seriously? He's friends with Toby and Ezra. I'm probably gonna have to see this guy in person one day! What if he visits Rosewood?"

"Chill Han, it's fine. The guys said he was nice, right? So maybe he won't think anything of it," Aria tried in an attempt to placate her friend.

"Yeah, what did he say in his reply?" Spencer chimed in.

"I haven't even read the reply!" Hanna gasped in realisation, reaching out and prising her phone from Aria's hands.

She scrolled down quickly and her eyes scanned over the message, the words finally allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

 _Hey Hanna! I don't think you meant to send me that message, but I appreciate it all the same. Ezra and Toby say hi by the way (don't worry, I didn't show them what you said, I'm not that mean). And I don't know what an 'Arua' is, but maybe you can enlighten me?_

 _Caleb :)_

"Well, at least he wasn't an ass about it."

Aria and Spencer crowded around Hanna as they read the message for themselves, looking up at each other and smiling once they'd finished.

"What?" Hanna asked, confused by their sudden onset of happiness.

"He used a smiley face! That's adorable," Aria squeaked, Spencer nodding in affirmation.

"I think he likes you," She teased, "You should write back."

Hanna narrowed her eyes and shook her head, "He doesn't like me, he doesn't know who I am," She replied, harshly, "But I'm gonna have to reply to apologise, aren't I?"

"Uh, that could be an issue," Aria spoke up, "Remember how I told you that they're all being relocated to Iraq? Well they left this morning. And they won't have internet access for at least a week."

"Great," Hanna ran her hand through her hair, "So 'I' make a complete ass of myself and don't even get the chance to explain what happened, or to say sorry."

Spencer stepped forward, rubbing Hanna's back, "You could always talk to him when I call Toby? I mean I don't know if I'll be able to, the reception's supposed to be pretty bad but…"

"I'm not gonna talk to him on the phone!" She interrupted, "Do you realise how awkward that would be? No. Not gonna happen."

"Send him a letter!" Aria piped up excitedly, tapping Hanna's arm, "That's so romantic."

Hanna's face was completely straight, "Aria, I am not looking for romance, I am looking to apologise. You get that? Ap-olo-gise."

"Might not be such a bad idea actually," Spencer spoke up, "Toby sent me their new address so you'd know where to send it to, and who cares if it's romantic, always a bonus if you can get a little extra out of this whole situation."

For the first time that morning, Hanna allowed herself a small smile. Maybe sending a letter wasn't such a bad idea after all – it was definitely better than speaking to some guy that she'd never met over the phone about her lack of a sex life.

"Well I'm not getting my hopes up on the love story front, but I might actually have to end up using your ridiculous idea," She chuckled lightly, "A letter just seems so old-fashioned, I may as well be sending him a carrier pigeon."

"That's my girl," Spencer laughed, rubbing Hanna's shoulder before she started the walk back to her bedroom, "I'll go and find you the address."

* * *

 **So there's the first chapter, I hope you guys liked it! We have such good things planned for this story, lots and lots of adorable Haleb to come, I promise. – Jen**


	2. A Change in Heart

**A/N Hey guys so next chapter is up. So this is now a chapter from me, (Emily) as Jen and I are alternating chapters. Thank you so much for the reviews on the first chapter, it was truly appreciated and we're glad you enjoyed it. Moving on, Hanna and Caleb both had an accidental introduction, but will it cause a change in heart? Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

A Change in Heart

* * *

"I'm starting to question why I ever got myself into this," Caleb groaned, plonking himself down onto the uncomfortable, springy mattress that he had called his bed for the last month.

After a long day of training the guys were infinitely grateful that they were finally allowed to head off to sleep; it was currently 1am and the trio, along with the rest of their squad had to be up at 5am to relocate to Iraq.

Although that meant they were only able to squeeze in a 4 hour sleep due to their training schedule, they were still happy that they were at least allowed a few hours of relaxation before leaving for Iraq to fight for their country.

"I wish you would stop complaining," Ezra laughed with a hint of jealousy in his voice, "It's not like you have a fiancée at home who is planning our wedding all alone."

Toby let out a slight giggle as Caleb ignored his comment, grabbing his phone from the relatively small night table next to his camp bed.

"Or a wife," Toby chimed in, a smirk appearing on his face before Caleb grabbed his pillow and launched it across their bunk, aiming for Toby and hoping it had actually hit him. Toby took that as his cue to stop talking, throwing the object back to Caleb before letting his head fall into his own soft pillow.

Caleb scrolled through his messages, a scolding look on his face as he had received about 6 messages from his crazy ex girlfriend, Bridget, who seemed to _never_ take no for an answer. He had ended it about 4 months ago when he caught her cheating with some British guy who he knew he could never compete with because of his damn accent, but honestly he wasn't too bothered. The couple's _relationship_ had fizzled out long before it had ended, but now it seemed as if Bridget had gone back to singleton status and was trying to wriggle her way back into his life – he sure as hell was not going back down that road.

Caleb huffed before deleting the messages from his phone; he didn't even know why he hadn't blocked her number, probably because he was too much of a nice guy.

"What's up man?" Ezra raised an inquisitive eyebrow as he acknowledged Caleb's change in mood.

"Take a wild guess," Caleb spat in annoyance, his face turning emotionless as the past twenty-four hours hit him - sleep was definitely needed, "I'm sorry," He quickly added, placing his phone back down before changing into his night gear.

"It's alright man, you get used to being sleep deprived once you're more settled," Ezra explained, flopping down onto his bed between Caleb's and Toby's.

Caleb gave a small smile, grabbing his phone again and clicking on the Facebook app - his mom usually liked to message him everyday before he drifted into slumber, and it somewhat put him at ease talking to someone close to him at the end of his hard working days.

Before he clicked on his mom's name to respond, he noticed a name just above hers that he couldn't quite recognise, Hanna Marin. He tried to think of if he had ever stumbled across it before but his brain was too switched off, considering it was the early hours of the morning. He clicked on her name and scanned through the message, changing position on the bed so he was half sitting, half laying.

 _Hi Caleb! My name is Hanna ans I would really looooove to meet yoi. My friends are with Ezra and Tobu. I think you are reallt hot and you should come slewp in my bed because I haven't haf sex in a really long time. Love Han (Arua)._

Caleb found himself silently laughing, before letting out the teeniest tiniest snort, which was enough to rouse Toby from his sleep.

"What are you laughing at?" Toby perked up, confused by his sudden outburst. Ezra then switched on the dim light as they both stared at Caleb.

"I'm guessing you know a girl called Hanna Marin?"

Toby and Ezra gave each other a knowing glance before replying, "Yeah, she's best friends with our girls, she's like our sister."

"She sent me a message on Facebook, I have no idea how she even found me but she's pretty cute," Caleb said nonchalantly, clicking onto her profile picture and gazing at it in awe as he studied her angelic features intently, "Are they on a night out? Because by the looks of her spelling, she seems totally out of it."

Toby guzzled down a bottle of water before replying, the heat in Florida was incredibly hard to ignore when he was sweating profusely every minute of every day. "Yeah, Spence mentioned they were going out for a girls night, they were probably all as drunk as a skunk," He grinned, thinking about how his wife seemed to drink a little too much to take the sharp edges of her not being with him away.

"Show us this message then," Ezra nudged Caleb's arm as he walked over to turn the bedside lamp off.

"No, this is strictly between me and her, although it says _'Arua'_ at the end," Caleb confirmed, slipping down deep into the thin covers and starting to type a reply.

Ezra immediately smiled and he knew, he just knew it was his Aria that had been the sneaky one sending the message from Hanna's phone, wanting to be the match-maker for her single best friend before Spencer could beat her to it. "That's my Aria," Ezra murmured.

"Tell them we both say hi," Ezra and Toby said in unison, before finally settling for the night.

Caleb quickly typed back a short message, smiling as he clicked off of the chat and onto his Mom's, letting her know he was fine and he'd respond as soon as he could. Iraq for 8 months might have been harder than he thought.

* * *

Hanna had finally pulled herself together after what she had witnessed on her Facebook messages, and poured herself a bowl of granola whilst Spencer was frantically searching for the address she had mentioned.

"Are you glad I sent him that message now?" Aria smirked. Walking out of the bedroom in what looked like one of Ezra's T-shirts, she lightly pinched Hanna's cheek which had now turned crimson pink - mocking her was always fun.

Hanna slapped her hand away and gave her a seething look before picking up her spoon and turning back to finish one of her five-a-days, "No, I'm embarrassed. 'C _ome and sleep in my bed?'_ I mean, come on!" Hanna dead-panned as Aria struggled to keep a straight face.

"I'm sorry," She recited for the millionth time, swinging her legs around on the chair to face Hanna, looking at her quizzically. "Would you ever actually hook up with him?" She chastised.

Hanna almost choked on her cereal, swallowing the remains before taking a sip from her glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, "We have talked about this, I don't know him, he doesn't know me, we're miles apart and I haven't even met the guy, end of conversation."

"I know but..."

"No buts," Hanna defended, moving over to the kitchen sink to wash the dishes as Spencer walked in with a slip of paper in her hands.

"As requested," Spencer handed over the piece paper, a small smile tugging at her lips as Hanna moved to dry her wet hands with the towel, rolling her eyes at Spencer.

"Actually, you insisted," Hanna shot back wryly, snatching the square piece of paper from Spencer's hands before trying to understand what the hell this kind of address was; she knew she had her blonde moments, but this time it seemed totally acceptable when Aria looked over her shoulder and frowned at all of the huge words she couldn't bring herself to even attempt to spell out.

Spencer watched in amusement as two of her best friends continued to stare at the piece of paper, eventually giving in and walking over to the both of them to help them with their 'crisis'.

"The only words I understand on here are... Bag-h-d-ad and Iraq," Hanna grinned proudly, engrossed in what it said as a bubbly Aria laughed beside her.

"I honestly feel like I have to babysit you guys," Spencer confessed, trying to relinquish Hanna's hold on the piece of paper before finally winning and skimming through the address, ready to correct her friends, "It says Baghdad, Iraq..."

Spencer was cut off by the sound of Hanna's groan when she yanked the piece of paper back from her and paced back to the bedroom before she could follow.

"I don't even care, it's just a stupid address that I'm only going to need once," Hanna exclaimed - she'd always hated Spencer's need to correct her whole vocabulary.

* * *

Hanna sat down at the little desk that was tucked away in the corner of Spencer's bedroom and began to think about what she could write. Bringing the pen towards her lips, she furrowed an eyebrow and stuck out her bottom lip in self-pity. It usually took her a long time for her to process words and she was often labelled as 'the least intelligent' in her group of friends, but she didn't mind, she knew they meant well.

"Why did I ever agree to this?" Hanna muttered to herself, chewing down on the pen lid hard, waiting for some idea of what to start with to spring to her pretty little head.

Spencer must have heard Hanna becoming impatient as she waltzed into the room, watching as she kept writing things and then scribbling them back out afterwards. "Why are you getting so grouchy?" Spencer asked, though she already secretly knew the answer.

"I'm sorry, is that a rhetorical question?" Hanna scowled, pulling her soft blonde locks back into a low ponytail, "Maybe because Aria has made me look like some horny twenty-three year old who wants to sell her body for a couple of dollars because she hasn't gotten laid in what feels like forever!"

Spencer just rolled her eyes at her in response - Hanna had _always_ been known to be the one who overreacted the most.

"That's because you haven't," She teased, knowing she was about to become dead meat if she carried on making fun of her instead of helping with the damn letter.

Spencer spied the chair that Toby had made for her back in high school, and picked up her friends creased clothes that hung over it. She brought them close to her nose and was instantly hit with the strong smell of last night's alcohol. The sight of empty glasses around the barn - which were still partially filled with the excess wine they hadn't managed to finish after they somehow made it back there - was enough to make her want to puke her way to the bottom, but smelling it took it to a whole other level. She catapulted the clothes onto the unmade bed before carefully pulling up the covers so it was even, and swatting all of the lumps out of it.

Carrying the chair over and placing it next to Hanna's, she sat down carefully and leaned forward to take a look at what Hanna had already managed to articulate on paper - which was nothing.

Hanna caught sight of Spencer looking back and forth between herself and the paper, and realised that if she was going to get this done and out of the way, Spencer was her best bet.

"Helllllp," Hanna whined desperately as she reached up to pull her hair back down, deciding that she was now too cold as a draft sent shivers down her spine. For it almost being the middle of April, it was surprisingly cold.

"Okay, okay," Spencer placated her, before pulling a face which Hanna knew all too well. It was her 'thinking face', as the girls liked to call it, and Spencer never failed to at least come up with something. "Well for the most part, you don't exactly need to be formal. If he's friends with the guys, he will already have an idea of who you are."

Hanna's expression changed from stoic to completely wide-eyed - she was a perfectionist and it was in her nature to make a good first impression, even though she knew she'd probably never speak to him again. "Ummm nope," She protested, "You know how I like to make good first impressions, and I'm not going to write informally to someone who is in the armed forces and who I've never met... God, I have some class and respect."

Spencer mumbled something quietly under her breath before giving into Hanna's command and returning to her thinking face.

Hanna continued to stare at her, just waiting for something to pop into her head when a small smile crept up onto Spencer's lips.

"Okay, well start off by calling him 'Sergeant Rivers' or something," She proposed merrily as Hanna laughed alongside her, "But seriously Han, you know how to be a little bit formal, just don't go over the top just for an apology. It's not like he hasn't already had a glimpse of your bad girl behaviour."

Hanna picked up the pen she had slammed down on the desk a few minutes earlier, and decided to follow Spencer's suggestions.

"Aria's bad girl behaviour!" Hanna said, exasperated, "But whatever, lets just get this over with."

* * *

Spencer and Aria were currently located on the couch watching a black and white movie; it was definitely Aria's choice, they were her favourite type of movie.

"How is she not done yet?" Aria questioned, pressing pause on the movie and making her way into the open-plan kitchen to grab another bag of popcorn from the cupboard.

"You know what she's like, she worries that she'll make a mistake."

Aria walked back over to the couch and sat down, re-positioning herself so her back was leaning against the arm of the couch, and pressed play again. _It's only a damn apology_ , she thought.

Spencer stayed silent for a few minutes, half enraptured in the movie and half wondering what an earth was taking Hanna so long - it had almost been forty-five minutes.

"Ari, do you think she's into him?" Spencer couldn't help herself - she knew Hanna too well and by the way she was acting, she was definitely keeping something from them.

"Spence, they don't know each other," Aria reiterated, munching on the sweet goodness, "Maybe she just has an attraction towards him."

They both stared at each other knowingly before simultaneously standing up and heading towards Hanna.

Meanwhile, Hanna had spent the last twenty minutes re-reading the letter, checking for errors, and seeing if there was anything she had missed. She tried to sound formal, but eventually gave up as she was failing miserably. How was she always the one that was paying for her friends' childish mistakes?

Deciding that it was the last time she was going to read through it, she scanned every word extra carefully, her left eyebrow raised as she started to feel like it wasn't all that bad of an apology.

 _Hello Sergeant Rivers,_

 _I would just like to sincerely apologise for that atrocious message I sent to you on Facebook. Well, the message 'Arua' sent from my phone, who by the way is my best friend and your battle buddy's fiancée Aria, if that enlightens you? Anyway, I really am sorry and I can assure you it will not happen again._

 _Thank you for taking the time to understand that it was a mistake and that Aria and I were not intentionally trying to bribe you to sleep with me *laughs*. Also, an extra thank you for serving time in Iraq to fight for our country. I hope you come back safe and sound - I have mad respect for you and all the other gentlemen out there. Tell Toby and Ezra I say hi back, and that I miss them dearly (not as much as their other halves do of course.)_

 _You have my greatest respect and support._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Hanna._

Hanna folded the paper in half, placing it inside of the envelope and sealing it securely. Studying the address that Spencer had given her, she wrote it down on the front of the envelope nice and neatly, making sure it was clearly visible before rummaging around in her handbag for a stamp.

After quickly putting on a fresh pair of clothes that she had brought over, Hanna was about to head out of the room when she was suddenly stopped by Spencer and Aria, who were sporting huge grins on their faces. She knew she was about to be bombarded with questions.

"Is it finally done?" Spencer snickered when Hanna nodded, "Ooooh, gimme."

Spencer reached forward to readily snatch it from her hands, but Hanna had brought her hand back and effortlessly moved around them, pulling on last night's five-inch heels, realising that they were the only shoes she had brought over.

"Where the hell are Em and Ali?" Hanna asked, trying to change the subject.

"Umm, we have no idea," Aria frowned, crossing her arms in the process.

Grabbing her keys that she had clearly left in the dish next to the door, she turned her head, giving her friends one last glance before heading towards her car to go and post the letter, leaving Spencer and Aria standing there completely and utterly confused at her actions.

Hanna drove through the streets of Rosewood until she arrived at her destination - there was a small mailbox which stood next to the girls' favourite coffee shop, The Brew.

Turning off the engine, she unstrapped herself from the seatbelt and jumped out of the vehicle, locking it as she made her way over to the mailbox. She pulled out the regular sized letter and gripped it hard with her hands.

She smiled to herself, thinking about what a complete idiot move Aria had made to make her go to such drastic measures - well in Hanna's world anyway - by sending a letter to someone who was millions of miles away. She could of just sent a Facebook message back to him and he would have probably seen it if he ever got internet access or when he arrived back home. But instead she had done it the old-fashioned way - maybe it was just a change in heart.

Extending her right arm out, she pushed the letter through the gap and let out a sigh of relief; at least she would never have to go through this experience again.

* * *

 **Second chapter complete! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let us know in a review. - Emily**


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